A lot has happened to the Christchurch theatre scene over the last ten years. Cityscape takes a look back.

2010/11 The Christchurch earthquakes forced The Court Theatre out of its 30-year home in The Arts Centre. In December 2011, it found a new home in Addington, affectionately known as The Shed. The Repertory Theatre on Kilmore Street was damaged beyond repair, but The Canterbury Repertory Theatre company is still going strong, putting on shows in venues around the city. Riccarton Players were also ousted from The Mill Theatre, and are now based in Sydenham. Isaac Theatre Royal also sustained significant damage, with the auditorium and foyer considered unrepairable in their original states.

2014 Isaac Theatre Royal was rebuilt thanks to a three-year restoration project with help from fundraising by the likes of Sir Ian McKellen. The iconic theatre reopened on November 17.

2016 The Loons in Lyttelton was a popular venue for local and national theatre as well as circus performances. The venue, lost in the quakes, was eventually succeeded by LAF – Lyttelton Arts Factory, which opened in 2016. LAF puts on several top-quality shows a year.

2018 Andromeda set up as a tent in October, and hosted close to 100 shows over seven weeks. The tent came down as planned in November, and the hunt for another space began.

2019 In October, the theatre now known as Little Andromeda found a spot on The Terrace and promptly started putting on absolutely excellent professional theatre productions.

2020 Good Times Comedy Club became Christchurch’s first (and so far only) dedicated comedy club in January, staging stand-up nights and featuring local and touring comedians.

2021 and beyond The Court Theatre is planning to begin construction next year on the theatre’s new central city space. It will be a three-storey, two-theatre complex, complete with education and rehearsal rooms in the Performing Arts Precinct.